Three months since coach Ruben Amorim left Sporting Lisbon to take charge of Manchester United, nothing's the same for him or his old team.
Sporting's 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund at home in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs Tuesday left Amorim's old club on the verge of elimination.
The Portuguese champion hasn't won any of its five Champions League games since Amorim left for Manchester — and with United 13th in the Premier League, his tenure there isn't exactly a success either.
“We weren’t very proactive and we lost our collective balance,” Sporting coach Rui Borges said.
“We let the game become the way Borussia like it, with space to run into in the final third. We can’t be like that against these teams. In the Champions League, we need to be at 200% — and we’re not even at 100%.”
Viktor Gyokeres had been an unstoppable force when Sporting demolished Manchester City 4-1 in November in Amorim's last European game in charge. On Tuesday against Dortmund, Gyokeres was on the bench — a regular event in recent weeks amid apparent fitness concerns.
When the Sweden striker entered the game in 59th, Dortmund scored a minute later, and Sporting was unable to provide reliable service to Gyokeres for the rest of the game.
Sporting had the better chances in a quiet first half but the game changed when Dortmund worked out that crosses were the way to unlock the Portuguese team's defense.
One high ball from the right found Serhou Guirassy for his 10th Champions League goal of the season, and soon after Guirassy crossed for Pascal Gross to score his first Dortmund goal with a clumsy finish off his knee. Sporting pushed up in search of a goal and was punished when Karim Adeyemi made it three for Dortmund on the counter.
Dortmund's new spark
While a change of coach has thrown Sporting out of its rhythm, it may have got Dortmund back on track.
Last season's Champions League runner-up was playing its first European game since Niko Kovac replaced the fired Nuri Sahin. It was a triumphant return to the Champions League for the former Bayern Munich and Monaco coach — though he has other problems, with Dortmund 11th in the German league.
Speaking to broadcaster Prime Video, Kovac cautioned that “it's just the first half” of the two-leg playoff but praised his team's attitude. “We showed mentality, physicality, aggression,” he said.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Ellingworth, The Associated Press
